City-funded Digital Upskill program delivers new careers for people hurt by Covid-19

Alicia MacHale, 27, was working as a mortuary transport driver in March when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Her son and daughter were suddenly at home distance learning, and she felt she had no choice but to quit her job.

“My husband was the sole financial provider and it made me feel really bad about myself that I wasn’t able to contribute to my family in that way,” MacHale says. “In August, I lost my grandfather due to Covid, and my heart shattered. This year definitely has been most challenging, and when I say challenging, it’s so much more than a toilet paper shortage or not being able to go to the mall.”

Today the outlook for MacHale and her family is much more hopeful, thanks to one of the workforce training programs funded by the City of Sacramento with federal stimulus dollars.

MacHale is one of 37 people who completed the “Digital Upskill” program sponsored by the Greater Sacramento Economic Council in partnership with the Greater Sacramento Urban League. On Wednesday, Jan. 20, she will start a nine-week paid apprenticeship with Zennify, a Sacramento-based software company. MacHale is hoping it will lead to a full-time developer job. It’s a job that allows her to work from home.

“Even my apprenticeship is a higher base salary than I’ve ever made,” MacHale said. “To have a real career on the table makes me want it that much more.”

Funded with $787,650 from the City, the program provided participants with free laptops, a $600 per-week stipend and digital training worth $15,000 for those who were affected by Covid-19 and trying to improve their digital skills. Graduates received a digital certificate in either IT Support or Advanced Data Analytics.

Of the 40 people who started the program, 37 have graduated. Six, including MacHale, have been placed in jobs, and the others will continue to receive placement assistance until they are placed as well.

“This exactly the kind of formula we have to repeat over and over again,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who successfully championed the idea of using the City’s $89 million in stimulus funding for workforce training, youth programs, small businesses, the homeless and arts organizations. “The definition of inclusion for me is not just the creation of new jobs, but to make sure our people --especially those from some of our disadvantaged neighborhoods -- are educated, trained and first in line for those jobs.”

Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, said the program’s results exceeded expectations.

“We were told we would be lucky if half the people finished,” he said. “Ninety three percent of people finished this program with a certification, and we’re going to make sure every one of them gets a job. Five thousand people asked to be part of this program, and 500 of them were qualified. Why so many? Because this was a real opportunity.”

Sacramento allocated a total of $10 million in CARES Act funds to workforce training, and GSEC was one of 29 providers offering different programs in a very tight timeframe due to deadlines for spending the stimulus funds.

 City staff members leading the program were Kriztina Palone and Abraham Salinas.

 “The City’s CARES Workforce Recovery Program (WRP) has become a foundational pathway for the City of Sacramento to support in an intentional and meaningful way, employment training, supportive services and workforce resources for all Sacramento residents that greatly need intensive economic support right now,” said Palone, the City’s Workforce Development Manager. “Through this program, our workforce providers have worked relentlessly to upskill, retrain, educate and place in jobs, the many dislocated, displaced, and unemployed Sacramento jobseekers, within a unprecedented timeframe.”